Are Electronic Cigarettes Safe?

What Are E-Cigarettes? Should You Worry About Safety?

If You Aren't Familiar With E-Cigarettes – Here's a Brief Description

Electronic cigarettes (more commonly called e-cigarettes, or vaping products) are battery-operated devices that can be styled like tobacco cigarettes or personal hand-held vaporizers. Those that look like cigarettes are called “cig-alikes”, while the newer vaporizers and vape pens contains a tank rather than a “filter” to hold the e-liquid ingredient. In most devices, the consumer may select the amount of nicotine in the e-liquid, or choose zero nicotine.

Ingredients also include a small amount of vegetable glycerine and propylene glycol, two substances labeled safe by the FDA. The atomizer (or heating element) vaporizes the liquid, which the user inhales, or “vapes” as if it were smoke. (The term “vaping” has actually made it to the Dictionary).

Since you don’t light up an electronic cigarette, there is no burning involved, no smell and no ash. Unlike tobacco cigarettes, eigs do not contain the same hazardous cocktail of cancer-causing chemicals.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, (CDC) cited increased consumption of e-cigarettes. While they continue to urge the FDA to regulate them, the agency concedes that “e-cigarettes appear to have far fewer of the toxins found in smoke compared to traditional cigarettes.”

Quality Control vs. Political Control

The FDA is aggressively lobbied by The American Tobacco Association and Big Pharma. I suspect there will be an awful lot of lost tax revenue when smokers quit smoking highly taxed tobacco products and switch to electric cigarettes. Similarly, a lot of pharmaceutical companies would suffer if far fewer people contract cancer each year.

Quoting tobacco control expert Dr. Michael Siegel, Associate chairman and a professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences at the Boston University School of Public Health,

“So far, every anti-smoking group which has called for the removal of e-cigarettes from the market has been found to be financially tied to Big Pharma. The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, American Lung Association, and Action on Smoking and Health have all received funding of some sort from the pharmaceutical industry. None of these groups, however, disclosed their financial conflicts of interest when they called for a ban on electronic cigarettes.”

It’s shameful that many unscientific tests are used as scare tactics keep smokers smoking and to discredit electronic cigarettes. As e-cigarette regulation approaches, newer, more scientific testing is being performed on e-cigarettes, and they are showing that both the ingredients and the second hand vapor produced is virtually harmless.

Comparing Apples To Apples

In comparing the carcinogens in electronic cigarettes with regular cigarettes, recent scientific studies have shown that conventional cigarettes contain 57 identified carcinogens, while e-cigarettes have been found not to contain any carcinogens at higher than trace levels.

They also were found to be at levels well below other smoking cessation products such as nicotine gum, patches and inhalers; in fact, you would have to smoke as many as 1,400 electronic cigarettes to be exposed to the same amount of carcinogens as found in only one tobacco cigarette!

It’s interesting to note that Nicotine is not considered a carcinogen by any agency. It’s found in many of the foods we eat including tomatoes, eggplant and potatoes. Maybe that’s why we can’t get enough pizza, french fries or eggplant!

If you eat a plateful of #moussaka, which is made from eggplant, you will absorb the same amount of nicotine as if you shared a room with a cigarette smoker for three hours.

Although e-cigarettes are never marketed as a smoking cessation product, a health product, or a cure for tobacco addition, the evidence is clear – they do present a far safer alternative for tobacco cigarette smokers.

Still Worried About the Safety of E-Cigarettes?

E-cigarette manufacturers now institute tighter quality control procedures, including third party testing of eliquids and making sure there are restrictions on the sale of these devices to minors.

Reputable e-cigarette companies such as DirectVapor, Halo Cigs and many more and have disclaimers on their websites and restrict sales to minors. Some companies have even discontinued the sale of some flavored cartomizers and eliquids in certain states.

So, Are E-Cigarettes Safe?

The right question to be asked is not, “Are electronic cigarettes safe?” The right question is: “Are electronic cigarettes safer than conventional cigarettes?” The FDA and anti-smoking groups are comparing electronic cigarettes to a breath of mountain air. What they need to compare electronic cigarettes to is a Camel cigarette.

To paraphrase another savvy reporter, Jacob Sullum – Forbidding smokers to use e-cigarettes until the FDA has approved them, is like telling a drowning man not to climb aboard a lifeboat because it might spring a leak.

If you are a smoker, or even a social smoker, switch to e-cigarettes or smoke them in your car or at home where tobacco smoke is unwelcome. A starter kit is also the best gift for the smoker in your life.

Related

Jackie J.

Jackie is a professional researcher and writer with a background in health and art history. She made the switch to vaping in 2010 and has never looked back. An avid traveler, Jackie particularly enjoys visiting vape shops around the world.

Follow Cloud Nine ECig Reviews on Twitter and on Facebook for up to date vaping discounts and special offers.

6 comments

Hi, thank you for creating this post. I do agree that e-cigs are better then conventional cigarettes however, not by much. There are a lot of misconceptions out there and I appreciate you taking the time to break them down for us.

Many people find it hard to quit smoking because of this highly addictive habit and the nicotine. However, with electronic cigarettes smokers have healthier option, giving them the freedom to smoke even in public places while cutting down the harmful effects of smoking. Thank you for sharing us this informative article!

Hi Helen and thanks for asking this important question. The wonderful thing about e-cigarettes is that they DO NOT contain anything that the FDA considers to be a “drug” other than nicotine,.. so unless you react badly to nicotine, you have nothing to fear.

The ONLY other ingredients in ecigs are (1) vegetable glycerine, (2) propylene glycol and (3) USP grade food flavorings, all of which are found in chocolate milk, cake mixes, even gummy bears. The first two ingredients are used in ecigs as a base liquid to hold the nicotine and to create the vapor. The flavorings simply add the flavor. Tobacco, on the other hand, contains over 4000 chemicals, many of which have been proven to be carcinogenic.

I hope you find this helpful. You’ll find the answer to many of your questions within other articles on this website.

My question is, does this chemical in any way cause you to feel anything other then the way nicotine makes you feel? Can it make you feel like your on a drug? I am very afraid of this, and my husband has already bought me all the stuff to try. I am just paranoid of it making me feel weird. Thank you.

I was most interested to read up on this subject. My best friend is trying to give up smoking but without success. I’m sending this on to her in the hope that she will find it of interest. I’m pleased to have found a website with good info on the electronic cigarettes. Thanks

Thanks for your kind words about Cloud Nine travelyn, and for referring my article. I do hope your friend finds it helpful. There’s so much misinformation being broadcast about te-cigarettes. Most is based on fear by those who stand to lose from its success. Cheers!

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